Iga Swiatek matches tennis great in unique achievement after cementing Madrid Open semifinal berth

Poland’s Iga Swiatek has matched a tennis great with a unique achievement in her most recent triumph at the Madrid Open. The 23-year-old, who is already regarded as one of the best players currently playing in women’s tennis in the singles category, registered a memorable win at the ongoing WTA 1000 event in Madrid against America’s Madison Keys with a score of 0-6, 6-3, 6-2.

While doing so, the reigning world number two only became the second player in the last 40 years in women’s tennis to be a top-five opponent in a match after losing the first set without winning a single game. The only other player to do so was the former world number one Steffi Graf, who achieved that against Arantxa Sanchez Vicario during the French Open in 1992.

Talking after the match, Swiatek stated that it was a ‘weird’ match to be a part of and that she was happy to come on the right side of the result. “Honestly, it was one of the weirdest matches I’ve ever played,” she said as quoted by WTA’s official website. “I didn’t feel like [the first set] was that bad. I felt the ball well -- it just went super long. I tried to play a bit shorter, and with some mistakes by Maddy, the momentum changed in the end. I’m happy that I did it.”

The win was a special one for Swiatek, who had struggled to win big matches this year and was still waiting to secure a spot in the final this season. She has suffered three defeats in the semifinal in 2025. Her first defeat in the last-four contest this year came at the Australian Open, where she lost to Keys with a score of 5-7, 6-1, 7-6. Then at the Qatar Open, the former world number one suffered a defeat to Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko in the semifinal in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 6-1. Her most recent defeat in the last-four clash came at the Indian Wells, where Russia’s Mirra Andreeva came out on top with a score of 7-6, 1-6, 6-3.